Hi! This is my first fanfic, and I wrote this chapter in only a few hours.. So this may be awful. Bear with me though. The story is set as if Killua had failed at running away and never took the Hunter Exam or met Gon. The time is approximately end of Greed Island, even though without Killua, Gon had never made it inside the game. More will be explained in the various expositions, which may seem boring, so I apologize and will try to them quick. Thanks for reading!

400 days, it had been 400 days since Killua's failed escape attempt. 400 days since the very few liberties Killua had previously had were stripped away from him. 400 since Killua had left the Zoldyck escape. Each of those 400 days seemed longer and more meaningless than the last. But this was his punishment for rebelling, his punishment for underestimating his family. He was taught multiple times to never underestimate his opponent, but he did anyway. Maybe he knew running away was far beyond his capabilities, but for some strange reason, one that he couldn't even remember today, he had to try. It was almost as if some unknown force was beckoning him, calling him to leave.. Maybe he forgot about this urge on purpose, after all he was taught that such desires would only chain him down, and he held his teachings rather dearly, maybe they were one of the few things he had in his isolated world. Or maybe it was because he was taught to view them in that light.

The past year or so (400 days to be precise) had been rather hellish. The consequences for rebelling and dishonoring your family were far more severe compared to a few hours of electrocution or whipping. Much worse actually, seeing as Zoldycks have such a high pain resistance, and each generation of the family has a sadist or two. His parents had easily chosen something that was pure torture, 400 days of no missions. Those bastards knew him all too well.. But after all, it only made sense for a scientist to know the qualities of his invention, an artist to know his painting, (and whatever other metaphors you, my dear reader would like to insert here)

Now, Killua did not enjoy his assassination jobs in the slightest. They were boring, and he despised them. Even so, they were better than staying on the mountain all day, practically going insane from boredom.. And the last thing, no second to last, actually forth to last, he wanted was to go insane. But he probably already was insane, seeing as ever since his failed escape he'd had this nagging feeling, as if there was something off balance in the world, and things weren't as how they needed to be. No matter how hard he tried to suppress this feeling, he couldn't. Which seemed to be a clear enough sign that he was losing his sanity.

The past 400 days has been nothing but training, day in and day out. No taking games from his older brother, Milliki, no reading, no jobs, just training. The first few months were pure torture, filled with the most tedious things, one of which removing a heart without even a single drop of blood. His parents must of really resented him for trying to quit the family business. Really resented him… But after a while, Killua finally got to work on something different.

That something was nen, the manipulation of life energy, or aura. But really, nen was just another reason for his mother, Kikyo, to dote over him and his 'infinite potential'. He was far from mastering it, but apparently his progress so far was prodigal. Even so, he wasn't progressing at a fast enough pace for Silva's expectations of him; mainly because of his indecisiveness in forming his hatsu.

(But now, my dear reader, you may rejoice. for you have survived all 556 word of exposition)

Killua woke up, 5:00 am same as everyday. He had reached a point where waking at this hour was so natural to him he no longer needed an alarm clock. Which was good, seeing as for some unknown reason, the buzzing of an alarm reminded him of his mother. Probably because the two were equally annoying. He had been anticipating this day, he never thought he'd want to go on a job so badly.

Similar to a child on his birthday, Killua wasted no time in getting out of bed and preparing himself for the joys to come. A quick shower and a strict, internal reminder for him to not be so excited later, Killua was out in the hallway wearing his white tunic with black turtleneck. It only felt fitting, seeing as he had worn the same shirt 400 days ago. But now he knew better than to attempt at such feats again.

Walking through the hallway, Killua could feel a familiar pair of eyes staring at him intently. The eyes were a brilliant shade of purple, and did well to mask the inhuman desires that lay behind them. He paid no mind to them though, partly because it was nearly impossible to get a word out of Kalluto, his younger brother; partly because he had no intention of wasting anytime before his job. As he walked past the small boy, he noticed something out of place, blood underneath his fingernails. And for a brief moment, Killua decided to act like Kalluto's older brother. Hopefully it wasn't in an Illumi way though..

"You should wash your hands, Mother won't be pleased to find out you were playing with them." His tone was nonchalant, yet there was an obvious protectiveness to it. Without another word, Killua continued down the hallway to a large stone door where he would meet Silva, mentally noting Kalluto's nod in response.

As Killua pushed open the door to where he knew his father was awaiting him, he made sure to remove any sign of anticipation or excitement from his countenance. He was taught better than to feel such childish things.

"I've been expecting you." His fathers authoritative voice ran throughout the room as Killua went to sit before him

"Who's my target?" Killua asked calmly, hoping to avoid any unnecessary conversation with his father. Ever since what happened last year, he could see the disappointment Silva felt towards his heir.

"Chrollo Lucilfer" Killua could sense the gap between the two widening, he had not made the correct decision. Even so, he felt as if he had heard the name before. Then it hit him

"Chrollo Lucifer?: Isn't he the leader of the phantom troupe?" He has been told before that the members of the phantom troupe weren't worth the money, so it was a surprise to hear he was the target

"Used to be" Silva instantly corrected him "He no longer has nen, so this will be the same as any normal job."

"I see" Killua contained the disappointment in his voice and waited for his father to dismiss him, he had been taught to not feel such childish things. Silva nodded, the sign that the meeting was over. Silently, Killua stood up and left the room.

It had been been 400 days since Killua had left the mountain, each one of those days he was partially consumed by a feeling that something was off. That feeling had been very annoying lately.. Hopefully while he was on this mission he could fix whatever that was, even with Illumi watching. After all, it wasn't as if his parents trusted him to go unsupervised.

And yet again, thank you for reading. Sorry if anything was confusing, especially the Kalluto part, I'll go deeper into his character later on. So don't worry too much.